Meet Dr Chua Yang, a doctor with a passion for women’s healthcare and member of the Robb Report Singapore Thought Leaders community

If Dr Chua Yang could have her way, she would have the power to heal with a touch. “There’d be no need for surgery, no more medicines, and more time to enjoy life!” she says with a laugh.

As long as that dream remains unlikely to become reality, you’ll find Dr Chua sitting fast at A Clinic for Women, the private practice she founded in 2002. “I started the clinic to dictate my own terms in patient care. I wanted to be able to give each patient adequate time to talk about everything that may impact their health and happiness,” she recalls. “I have stuck to that game plan through all my 20 years of private practice.”

Dr Chua’s personable approach to care is one that was shaped by her maternal grandmother. “I was very close to her and I remember tagging along many times when my mother brought her to her medical appointments in the last decade of her life,” she reminisces.

“Even then, when I was young, I was fascinated by how patients hung on to every word that the doctor said about their condition. A good doctor can comfort the anxious patient while an impatient one could potentially add stress to them. In the years of my training, I was very fortunate to have amazing mentors who demonstrated not just the science but also the art of being a good doctor.”

Access to healthcare for women is something Dr Chua is passionate about. “Women’s wellbeing is the cornerstone of all thriving communities,” she explains. “My specialty has given me huge opportunities to travel to the most remote communities to offer free healthcare and health education. This is the work of my non-profit organisation, Global Clinic.”

Her philanthropic work doesn’t end there. She’s also on the board of directors of Babes, a charity that supports pregnant teenagers and used to be the president of the Asia Pacific Menopause Federation and Menopause Research Society of Singapore. In addition, she has served on the councils of the Academy of Medicine’s Obstetrical and Gynaecological chapter, the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Singapore, and the Association for Women Doctors.

Editor’s note: Get to know the full Thought Leaders community here.

Photography by Sayher Heffernan